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Messi Will Start vs. Canada in Copa America Semifinal, Argentina Coach Says

Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni (R) and Argentina's forward Lionel Messi talk during a training session one day before the Conmebol 2024 Copa America tournament semi-final match between Canada and Argentina, in Whippany, New Jersey, on July 8, 2024. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)
Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni (R) and Argentina's forward Lionel Messi talk during a training session one day before the Conmebol 2024 Copa America tournament semi-final match between Canada and Argentina, in Whippany, New Jersey, on July 8, 2024. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)
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Messi Will Start vs. Canada in Copa America Semifinal, Argentina Coach Says

Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni (R) and Argentina's forward Lionel Messi talk during a training session one day before the Conmebol 2024 Copa America tournament semi-final match between Canada and Argentina, in Whippany, New Jersey, on July 8, 2024. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)
Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni (R) and Argentina's forward Lionel Messi talk during a training session one day before the Conmebol 2024 Copa America tournament semi-final match between Canada and Argentina, in Whippany, New Jersey, on July 8, 2024. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)

Lionel Messi won't be stopped by a leg injury and will play in Argentina's Copa America semifinal against Canada on Tuesday night.
Messi has been dealing with a right leg problem since the group stage win over Chile on June 25. He missed the first-round finale four days later but played the entire match in the quarterfinal victory over Ecuador last Thursday.
"Leo is good. He will be playing tomorrow,” Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni said Monday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
At 37, Messi has 13 Copa America goals and is four behind the record shared by Argentina’s Norberto Méndez and Brazil’s Zizinho but hasn't scored in this year's tournament.
“It’s an easy decision for me,” Scaloni said. “It’s a fairly honest decision: I ask him how he feels. If he says ‘I’m not good,' then he will play the last 30 minutes. When he’s available, he will play.”
Seeking a record 16th Copa America title, Argentina beat Canada 2-0 in the June 20 tournament opener when Messi set up second-half goals by Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez.
“We didn't do well enough with Messi last match. He was able to run free at our goalkeeper too much," said Jesse Marsch, the American hired as Canada's coach in May. “We all know he's the greatest player to ever play the game.”
Argentina outshot Canada 19-10, including 9-2 on target, and had 64% possession.
“It’s more of (an) advantage that we were able to play against them than it was for them to play against us,” The Associated Press quoted Marsch as saying.
Both teams are coming off quarterfinal wins on penalty kicks. Canada, an invited guest from North America, defeated Venezuela.
In the other semifinal, Uruguay plays Colombia on Wednesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. The championship is Sunday at Miami Gardens, Florida.
Argentina will have four days’ rest, one more than Canada, but both teams are coming off 90-minute matches. Tournament regulations call for extra time to be used only if needed in the final.
Argentina is seeking to win its third major title after the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup and to equal the feat of Spain, which won the European Championship in 2008 and ’12 along with the 2010 World Cup. The Albiceleste are tied with Uruguay for most Copa America titles with 15.
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has won four straight shootouts, against Colombia in the 2021 Copa semifinals, vs. the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals and against France in the final, then vs. Ecuador last week.
Martinez, 6-foot-5, constantly shuffling his feet and a chatterbox trying to distract opponents, saved eight of 18 shots, stopping Colombia’s Davinson Sánchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Cardona; the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis; France’s Kingsley Coman; and Ecuador’s Ángel Mena and Alan Minda.
Canada was eliminated in the group stage of its only World Cup appearances in 1986 and 2022. It won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup after gaining the title of a predecessor tournament, the 1985 CONCACAF Championship.
“We’re playing against the best team in the world,” said Cyle Larin, Canada's career leader with 29 goals. “We have a lot of speed and power, but I think over those days we’ve been together we’ve been growing.”

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Serena Williams Listed as Eligible to Return to Tennis on February 22

Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US after losing her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. (Reuters)
Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US after losing her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. (Reuters)
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Serena Williams Listed as Eligible to Return to Tennis on February 22

Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US after losing her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. (Reuters)
Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US after losing her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. (Reuters)

Serena Williams has been listed as eligible to return to ​tennis from February 22 by the sport's drug-testing body (ITIA), though it remains unclear whether the 23-times Grand Slam champion will make a ‌stunning comeback ‌to the ‌women's ⁠tour.

The ​44-year-old ‌raised eyebrows late last year after rejoining the tennis anti-doping testing pool, though she denied at the time the move ⁠signaled she was preparing to ‌return to the ‍sport she ‍dominated for nearly two ‍decades.

She reignited speculation last month when she deflected questions about a possible return ​during an appearance on NBC's "Today" show.

The Women's Tennis ⁠Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, has not competed since the 2022 US Open.

Sports

Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
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Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)

Oscar Piastri is on a similar career trajectory to Formula One world champion teammate Lando Norris and should have a shot at the title this season, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Monday as they prepared to test in Bahrain.

The American told reporters on a video call that his drivers were raring to get going.

"He (Piastri) is now going into his fourth year. Lando has a lot more grands prix than he does so if you look at the development of Lando over that time, Oscar's on a similar trajectory," Brown said.

"So he's in a good place, physically very fit, excited, ready to ‌go."

LAST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION ‌WAS IN 1980

Piastri, who debuted with McLaren in Bahrain ‌in ⁠2023, can become ‌Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

While Piastri took his first win in his second season, Norris had to wait until his sixth. Both won seven times last year.

Brown said he had spoken a lot with the Australian over the European winter break and expected the 24-year-old, championship leader for much of 2025, to pick up where he left off.

He said the discussion had been all about creating the best environment for him and what ⁠McLaren needed to do to support him.

Brown said Piastri had spent time in the simulator and, in response to ‌a question about lingering sentiment in Australia that McLaren ‍favored Norris, "he knows he's getting a ‍fair shake at it".

"You win some, you lose some. Things fall your way, things ‍don't fall your way," added the chief executive.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE

Brown said Norris' confidence level was also very high.

"He's highly motivated and it's our job to give him and Oscar the equipment again to be able to let them fight it out for the championship," he said.

"If we can do that, I think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shot."

Mercedes' George Russell is the current pre-season favorite after an initial shakedown ⁠test in Barcelona last month.

Norris can become only the second Briton to take back-to-back titles after seven times champion Lewis Hamilton, who won four titles in a row with Mercedes from 2017-20 as well as two together in 2014 and 2015.

The only other multiple British world champions are Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1962, 1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973).

"I think there are some drivers that say 'I've done it. Now I'm done'," said Brown. "And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go 'I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three or four times'."

He reiterated that both remained free to race and said decisions would be taken strategically as and ‌when they arose.

"We feel like we'll be competitive. The top four teams all seem very competitive. Very early days but indications that we will be strong," he added.

Sports

‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
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‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)

Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.

Olympic organizers are investigating with "maximum attention" after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.

"Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken."

TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.

His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.

US figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.

"My medal don’t need the ribbon," Liu wrote early Monday.

Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.

"We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said Monday.

"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."

It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.

Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.